New Computer Can Read Handwriting

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In a development that may make computers accessible to people not accustomed to working on keyboards, a subsidiary of the Tandy Corporation introduced a 4.5-pound portable computer today that can read printed handwriting.

The new machine, the first to be able to read handwriting readily, is called the Gridpad and is intended for workers who typically gather information and record it on paper forms. But since the machine recognizes only printed capital letters, it is not the long-awaited electronic notebook.

A portable notebook-type computer has been an industry goal since at least the early 1980's, when Alan Kay, now a research fellow with Apple Computer Inc., envisioned a machine he called the Dynabook. It was to be a portable computer that would recognize any kind of handwriting and respond to simple English commands. An Electronic Pen

Industry analysts said the Gridpad, which is about the size of a clipboard and 1.4 inches thick, does not reach that goal but is a significant step in that direction. Information is entered on the screen by writing with an electronic pen. The procedure is relatively slow, taking one to two seconds before written characters are redisplayed as computer-generated characters. Recognizing cursive handwriting remains beyond the capabilty of current computer science, the analysts said.

The device will sell for $2,370 plus $425 for an essential memory card when shipments begin next month. The Grid Systems Corporation, the Tandy unit that developed the machine, said nine software producers were working on special programs tailored for the device.

Executives of Grid Systems, which is based in Fremont, Calif., said they believe that Gridpad can create a new market, as Tandy did when it introduced the first Radio Shack laptop computer in 1980. While Gridpad is not the first computer to recognize handwriting, previous machines were far heavier and took hours to learn the printing style of the user.

Those limitations greatly restricted the potential market for the devices, Grid officials said. To make the Gridpad broadly usable, it was designed to run on the same MS-DOS operating system used by the International Business Machines Corporation's personal computers and those compatible with it. The machine can run DOS programs, but data must be entered through a keyboard that can be displayed on the screen. 'It's Not Sexy'

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Analysts said the Gridpad was an innovative machine that would probably find markets among workers who had never used computers. ''It is a good commercial product aimed at exactly the right market,'' said Richard Shaffer, publisher of Technologic Computer Letter. ''It's not sexy; it's not the exotic dream machine that reads your handwriting,'' he added. But if users accept the machine's limits ''the technology is finally there to do handwriting recognition,'' he said.

The key technological advance of the machine is in its software, a proprietary algorithm that comprehends letters by looking at a character's shape and the order in which the character was drawn. A feedback provision briefly displays the handwritten letter and then shows it again in type. If the letter is incorrect, it can be crossed out and rewritten. Also, by tapping twice on a writing area, a pop-up keyboard appears on the screen for entering letters.

Ken Dulaney, marketing manager for the Gridpad, said it was not aimed at replacing paper or other portable computers, but at providing a more accurate and accessible way to enter data from the field. ''Gridpad is intended to improve productivity in a vast market,'' he said. ''There are hundreds, if not thousands, of forms in every company, and they generally reside in filing cabinets, totally inaccessible to management.'' Handles Graphics, Too

Grid Systems executives say there is a large pool of potential users among people who primarily work standing up, like delivery truck drivers, law enforcement officers and nurses. Since the machine can store graphic images as well as letters, a police officer could fill in an accident form and also draw a diagram showing the scene. Truck drivers could fill out an invoice and record a signature, which the machine would store as a graphic image.

The Gridpad is a first step in the right direction, said Jerry Kaplan, president of the Go Corporation in San Francisco, which is developing a new class of portable computers. ''The fact that a major manufacturer is announcing a machine of this kind is a clear validation that there is a need for novel input technology, such as the pen or stylus,'' he said.

While today's laptop machines are standard desktop PC's made compact to be portable, there is a need for a machine designed from the outset for portable use, Mr. Kaplan said. ''There's a dramatic need for people to use portable computers in certain settings where keyboard devices are not socially acceptable,'' he added. Keyboards ''don't really work in settings where people need to interact, such as business meetings.''

A version of this article appears in print on September 29, 1989, on Page D00001 of the National edition with the headline: New Computer Can Read Handwriting. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe